Introduction

The model represents a vehicle from
the Royal Australia Armoured Corps in Vietnam, in service with C
Squadron, 1 Armoured Regiment.

A
combination of somewhat vague instructions and tricky fit of parts
led to a fairly lengthy build time, but the results were worth the
effort.

Construction

The AFV
Club
kit was supplemented with a number of after-market items and scratchbuilt
details.

AFV
workable individual track links (set number AF-35102) were used.
These look great, but the fit was very tight and the completed track
runs were bowed.

All
handles and tie down brackets were replaced with fine brass wire.
Where appropriate, a small weld bead at the base of the
handles/brackets was depicted with a tiny puddle of super glue.

Tie down
straps were added to turret stowage boxes from lead foil.

The
electrical cables moulded to the turret and front of the hull were
sliced off and replaced with fine solder.

A cable
for the search light was added using 24 gauge copper wire.

The
handles moulded to the searchlight were cut off and replaced with
spare lenghts of flat photo-etch bent into shape.

Wing nuts
from photo-etched spare parts were added to the antenna bases and
tool attachment brackets.

Ties for
the twin tow cables were bent from short lengths of lead foil.

A dust
cover for the searchlight was made from lead foil.

The canvas
mantelet cover was made for the kit part by building up layers of
Milliput and sculpting it to shape. The frame for the cover was
built from strips of plastic card and bolts cut from .020" plastic
rod. The Firestorm resin replacement part was not available to Chris
at the time that he built the model.

Painting, Markings and Weathering

All camouflage colours were applied with
the Testor Aztek A470 airbrush.

The inner wheel rims moulded to the
vinyl tyres were painted green using a fine brush.

The wooden handles of the tools
were painted XF-59 Desert Yellow.

A protective coat of Tamiya X-22
Gloss Clear was sprayed over this base colour to protect the paint
job from the subsequent wash. This wash was a mix of Tamuya enamel
X-18 and XF-64 in equal parts, heavily thinned with mineral
turpentine.

The entire model was then covered
with Vietnam red dust. This was a heavy coating of various pastel
chalk colours, ground down and mixed with turpentine then painted
onto the model.

When dry, the dust was scrubbed off
with a soft toothbrush. The result is dust in the crevices, with a
fine reddish effect overall. This method of application if also very
robust and can withstand handling without rubbing off the pastel.

Lighting
was via two studio flash units - a Bowens Esprit 250 fitted with a
60cm soft box, and a cheap 100X/S SLS unit through a white umbrella.
The camera was set to manual at 1/60 sec. and aperture of f.25